Thomas Recipients

Lerner Recipients

2016 – Kevin McCarthy

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Raymond Clamage Memorial Award

in recognition of being the staff member who contributed the most to the progress and quality of The Daily Illini during the year.

Raymond Clamage served on the Daily Illini Staff from 1942-43 and was killed in action in World War II. The award was established by his family to honor his life.

Peter takes every challenge with stride and does a great job at motivating his staff. His staff is one of the closest-knit desks and he has overcome incredible tragedies. During the year, the University had the most athletic investigations and scandals to date, and he covered each one tremendously.

Annabeth spent countless hours and wrote over 8,000 words on a four-part investigative series on the lingering presence of Chief Illiniwek. With a tight deadline, she worked endlessly and used dozens of interviews to capture different viewpoints.

Jeff Ponczak Memorial Award

in recognition of being the member of The Daily Illini sports staff who has contributed the most to teamwork, the spirit of friendship, and an unabashed love of sports and fun, as well as quality in reporting sports at the paper during the year.

Jeff Ponczak served as a writer and editor on The Daily Illini sports staff from 1987-91. This award was established by Jeff’s friends and family in June 2008 to honor him and support future sports journalists after Jeff lost a long battle with congenital heart problems .

Michal is involved in so many facets of the DI: covering the football beat, night editing, and serving as a slot editor. He is tremendously reliable and his sense of humor, reporting skills and ability to both lead and follow make him the most deserving of this award.

Brett H. Lerner Memorial Award

in recognition of being the staff member who contributed the most to the progress and quality of Illini Drive during the year.

Brett Lerner was a DI sports reporter and the co-host of WPGU’s Illini Drive. He was killed in a tragic car accident on his way to cover a sporting event in October, 2015. This award was established by Brett’s father in recognition of Brett’s dedication and contributions to WPGU and The Daily Illini.

The spirit of Brett Lerner is, in a large part, the spirit of friendship. Even in small instances, Brett made an impact. Kevin, the “social media man” of Illini Drive, is the same way. Rather than trying to replace Brett, Kevin has added to the show in his own way. Kevin can’t help but bring smiles to those around him and is an unmissable voice on the show.

Tom Thomas, Jr. Memorial Award

in recognition of being the member of the WPGU-FM 107.1 staff who made the greatest contribution to the quality and the betterment of the radio station during the year.

Tom Thomas, Jr. worked at WPGU from 1974-76, and in later years was one of Illini Media’s most active alumni. This award was established by his friends and family, in recognition of his dedication and contributions to WPGU and Illini Media after his sudden death in May of 2008.

CD took on the job when everyone else had denied the position and has excelled greatly. He has spent countless hours improving the quality of the station and single handedly fixed the technical issues that we dealt with during the beginning of the year. Overall, he has been a great asset to WPGU.

Gerald S. Cohen Memorial Award

in recognition of being the member of the business staff who made the greatest contribution to the betterment of The Daily Illini during the year.

Gerald S. Cohen worked on The Daily Illini business staff from 19XX-xx, This award was established by his parents after his untimely death in 1956 in memory of his contributions and dedication to The Daily Illini business staff.